Device for providing a supply of material for processing



United States Patent Inventor Karl Wilhelm Quester Pfarriusstrasse 12,Cologne-Lindenthal, Germany Appl. No. 717,296 Filed March 29, 1968Patented Oct. 6, 1970 Priority April 5, 1967 Germany No. Q937 DEVICE FORPROVIDING A SUPPLY OF MATERIAL FOR PROCESSING 6 Claims, 1 Drawing Fig.

11.5. CI 198/44, 198/126 Int. Cl ..B65g 47/18, B65 g 65/30 Field ofSearch 214/17.6,

[56] References Cited UN lTED STATES IPATENTS 3,319,808 5/19672l4/l7.62UX FORElGN PATENTS 499,246 11/1950 Belgium 214/17.62UX

OTHER REFERENCES German Printed Application(Steiner) 976,098 263 214-17.62UX

Primary Examiner- Robert G. Sheridan Allorney- Lowry, Rinehan & MarkvaABSTRACT: This box device provides a supply of material such as leaf orcut tobacco for processing. The device includes a box having a movablefloor belt which carries the material along the length of the box. Thedevice further includes a means for supplying a uniform layer of thematerial on the floor belt ofthe box.

Patented 0a. 6, 1970 3,532,201

' INVE N 705% M ML #51. OuEsTER w/m k DEVICE FOR PROVIDING A SUPPLY OFMATERIAL FOR PROCESSING BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Supply devicesincluding containers having a movable floor belt which is longitudinallylimited by side walls are well known. Supply devices such as these,generally referred to as feed box or stock bin, are used in processesfor treating material such as tobacco where a steady flow of the tobaccois required in a subsequent processing or manufacturing step. Thistobacco or other material is held in the feed box in a generally regularlayer so that when the movable floor belt is activated, the tobacco canbe directed out of the feed box into the next step of the manufacturingprocess. The material is delivered to the feed box through the use of aconveying means generally consisting of areciprocating device whichincludes a moving conveyor belt, truck or the like.

With regard to delivery of material such as tobacco to the delivery endof the feed box, it is important that the layer of material on the floorbelt of the feed box be kept at a constant depth in order to insure asteady, quantitative feed. The material being conveyed through the feedbox to the subsequent processing step is presently laid layer by layeron the floor belt from the feed box delivery conveying mea'ns while thesaid floor belt is stationary. This feature has been necessary to obtaina constant depth of the material on the floorbelt as the feed box isbeing filled prior to subsequent discharge into the next step of theprocessing. The floor belt is not moved until the material hasaccumulated to the full prescribed depth over the whole length of thesaid belt. Once completely full, the floor belt is started in its motiontowards the exit or discharge end of the feed box. A continuous supplyservice to the subsequent processing step necessitates at least two feedboxes to be available simultaneously. While one feed box is dischargingits accumulated feed material, the other feed box is being filled withmaterial up to the prescribed depth on top of the feed belt.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The object of the invention is to provide aconstant supply ofmaterial to a processing apparatus or subsequenttreatment station through the use ofa single feed box device.

Another object of the invention is to provide a feed box device whereinmaterial such as tobacco can be kept at a prescribed depth at least atthe exit or discharge end of the feed box while it is in continuousservice.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device for loadingmaterial such as tobacco into a feed box which contains a lower conveyorbelt.

Still further an object of this invention is to provide a deviceincluding a conveyor element which reciprocates over the feed box whilesupplying material over a portion of the feed box to control the depthof the material which is accumulating on the floor belt ofthe feed box.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device including acontrol element for checking the correct depth of the material on thefloor belt of the feed box so that the supply of material to the feedbox may be regulated as a function of the depth of the material on thesaid floor belt. Such a control element may suitably be a photoelectriccell or the like At the beginning of an operation, the feed box supplyconveyor provides material at the correct depth on the feed boxdischarge conveyor starting from the discharge end of the feed box. Thefeed box supply conveyor means remains at one point and continues toprovide material until the control element indicates that the materialhas accumulated on the feed box discharge conveyor to a predetermined,prescribed depth. When the material has accumulated to this depth, theconveyor means is set to move in response to the control elementssensing of the said depth in' a direction away from the discharge end ofthe feed box. The distance that the conveyor means moves in this reversedirection is a function of the angle of repose of the particularmaterial. The conveyor means is then stopped until the necessary depthof material has accumulated on the discharge conveyor at the bottom ofthe feed box. This manner of delivering material to the feed box by wayof the feed box supply conveyor means allows the discharge of materialfrom the feed box into the subsequent processing step or manufacturingoperation station immediately. Once started, the accumulation of'material in the box and the discharge of the material out of the boxinto the subsequent operation can proceed simultaneously while thecondition of maintaining a prescribed depth of material on the feed boxfloor discharge conveyor is perpetuated. The arrangement of such a feedbox device requires only a'single feed box for continuous machineoperation. Another advantage is that the arrange'rnent is simple inconstruction and extremely reliable in operation.

The control element is most suitably mounted on an outriggerextendingfrom the conveyor belt means. The said element is set at aparticular distance above the feed box discharge conveyor belt at thebottom of the said feed box. This distance corresponds to the desiredlayer depth of the material being conveyed through the feed box. Anotherfeature of the invention isthat the control element maybe madeadjustable to any desired distance above the said feed box dischargeconveyor belt. In addition to the control element, a leveling devicesuchas a screed bar can be mounted on an outrigger ahead of the saidcontrol element. Such a leveling device can be used for maintaining thecorrect layer depth of the material as it is moving through the feed boxof this invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS The invention will now be described withreference to an exemplary form of embodiment shown on the accompanyingsingle drawing.

The single figure shows a diagrammatic side view of a feed box conveyorarrangement constructed in accordance with the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENT A feed box discharge conveyor belt Irunning over rollers 2 and 3 in the direction of arrow 4 is installed atthe bottom of a feed box or stock bin which is not shown. Material 14being conveyed through the feed box is supplied to the dischargeconveyor belt I by a feed box supply conveyor means generally designated5. The feed box supply conveyor means 5 includes a traveling belt '6which is mounted on a truck 7. The truck 7 having wheels 8 which run onrails 9 and therefore is movable in a reciprocating manner with respectto the feed box. The material 14 is supplied to the conveyor belt 6 byany suitable well known form of feed spout or oscillating hopper (notshown), in the direction of the arrow 10. The truck 7 in cludes aforwardly extending outrigger 12 on which a control unit 11 isadjustably mounted. The control unit 11 in this specific embodiment is aphotoelectric cell which checks the depth of the material l4 which hasbeen delivered onto the feed box discharge conveyor belt 1. Anequalizing or leveling device such as the wheel cross 13 is mounted onthe same outrigger I2 ahead of the control unit 11 for the purpose ofmaintaining the depth of the material 14.

To operate the feed box of this invention, the truck 7 with the conveyorbelt 6 is moved forward toward the discharge end of the feed box. Thephotoelectric cell 11 is adjusted to a suitable distance above the feedbox discharge belt to obtain the desired depth of material 14 beingloaded onto the discharge feed belt I. The movement of the truck 7 is afunction of the flow of the material forward from the end of the feedbox supply conveyor means 5 so that the material is heaped approximatelyover the front roller 2 of the feed box discharge belt I. The truck 7remains in this position until the material 14 has accumulated on thefeed box discharge belt I at the discharge end to a preset depthdesignated 14b. The photoelectric cell 11" is adjusted to scan acrossthe heap of acal 14, the generated pulse that results activates any wellknown electromechanical means which effects the running of the truck 7along the rails 9 to a distance back from the discharge end of the feedbox. This distance that the truck 7 runs is a function of the angle ofrepose of the material 14. After the truck 7 moves to this next positionand the scanning beam of the photoelectric unit 11 is no longerinterrupted, the material 14 is again supplied to the feed box dischargeconveyor belt at this new position to the full prescribed depthv Whenthe feed box discharge belt 1 is set in motion, the accumulated material14 is discharged at the front roller 2 while the material 14 continuesto be fed to the belt 1 behind the previously delivered material. Thetruck 7 merely follows the rear end of the accumulated heap of material14 and continues to supply fresh material 14 under the control of thescanning beam generated by the photoelectric cell 11 That is, the truck7 moves back as soon as the new material has reached the prescribedheight and then repeats the process to provide the discharge belt 1 witha continuous supply of material 14.

While the feed box device has been shown and described in detail, it isobvious that this invention is not to be considered as being limited tothe exact form disclosed, and that changes in detail and constructionmay be made therein without de parting from the spirit of thisinvention.

lclaim:

l. A feed box device for providing a supply of material such as tobaccoto a processing installation comprising:

a. a movable discharge belt located at the bottom of the feed box;

I). a supply conveyor means displaceably mounted to pro vide a supply ofmaterial from the end thereof to the discharge belt located therebelow;

cv said conveyor means including an outrigger projecting toward thedischarge end of the feed box;

a v a control means to maintain a constant depth of the materialaccumulated on the discharge belt; and I e. said control means includinga sensing means mounted on the outrigger at a distance sufficient fromthe supply end of the conveyor means to maintain passage of the supplymaterial therebetween to the discharge belt located therebelow.

2. A feed box device as defined in claim 1 wherein said sensing means isheight adjustable.

3 A feed box device as defined in claim 1 wherein:

said outrigger extends forwardly from the supply conveyor means; and

said control means includes a leveling device mounted on the outriggerin front of the sensing means to level the accumulated material on thedischarge belt.

4. A feed box device as defined in claim 3 wherein:

the longitudinal axis of the supply conveyor means moves in a directionparallel to the longitudinal axis of the discharge belt when theconveyor means is displaced; and

the control means includes means response to a signal from the sensingmeans to move the supply conveyor means.

5v A feed box device as defined in claim 4 wherein:

said sensing means is height adjustable; and

said leveling device is height adjustable.

6. A feed box device as defined in claim 5 wherein:

said sensing means includes a photoelectric cell which directs a beamacross the heap of material accumulated on the discharge belt;

said photoelectric cell producing a pulse when the directed beam isinterrupted by the material accumulating on the discharge belt; and

said responsive means being energized when the pulse is produced to movethe supply conveyor means.

